The Bladelands Chronicles

Chapter 1

2-4 May 2008 at Stock Wood

Lord Montoya, supported by his retinue and a band of adventurers from Fort Winnofar, attempts to establish a new fief. Rather than taking the traditional approach of seizing land from the local tribes and holding it by force, he decides to build upon relations established between the inhabitants of Fort Winnofar and the Keltoi, and petitions the local Wise Ones to grant him some land. He and his followers meet with the Keltoi at their mooting ground and undertake a series of tests designed to ascertain the group's ability to function as a Keltoi tribe. A group of School Towners were mistakenly invited to the Moot by one of the priests from Fort Winnofar, and on their arrival come across a shrine which is sacred to the Sidhe and attempt to consecrate it to the Powers. This causes conflict between them and the Keltoi, with Lord Montoya and his followers caught in the middle. Ultimately, two of the delegation from School Town, who refuse to apologise for their conduct to the Sidhe Hunter, are interred beneath the shrine as punishment for their actions. Additionally, some of the local Keltoi, most notably the Children of the Dragon, a group of Dragon Kin freedom fighters, take exception to the group's acceptance by their Wise Ones and stir trouble, kidnapping Lord Montoya and one of his knights, although they return the following morning with several hours missing from their memory. In spite of these setbacks, the group complete the tests set them by the Wise Ones and the majority of the council find in the group's favour, and lands currently occupied by Foulspawn are granted to the newly formed tribe of the Black Rose, provided they can take and hold it, and fend for themselves. Thus, the fief is established.

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Chapter 2

13-15 June 2008 at Consall

The newly formed fief, and tribe, of the Black Rose begin construction of a settlement on their new lands. A delegation from School Town arrive to discuss the issues caused by their run-in with members of the Black Rose at the moot, and the situation with their men who are interred at the Sidhe shrine. Talks do not go well, and during the fighting which follows a priest of Rhiannan from School Town is killed by Lord Montoya's bodyguard for refusing to lay down her weapon when ordered to do so. As she was cut down she was asking for mercy and praying to Rhiannan, who takes the killing of her priest as a personal insult and withdraws all healing from the bodyguard, although he turns to worship of the Sidhe and receives equivalent blessings from them. Meanwhile the Black Rose confront Laird Fergus of the Children of the Dragon with regards to the kidnapping of Lord Montoya. A magical duel is fought between one of his psychic warriors and one of the sorcerers of the Black Rose – a duel which results in the sorcerer's spirit being cast forth from his body, although it was later retrieved. Ultimately, the Black Rose find themselves at war with the Children of the Dragon and with School Town. Various other fiefs, concerned by the behaviour of the Black Rose, in particular their close relations with the Keltoi and that some of their members worship the Sidhe rather than the Powers, consider allying with School Town.

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Chapter 3

18-20 July 2008 at Consall

A religious tribunal, formed of priests from School Town, the Black Rose, and a number of other fiefs, arrives to pass judgement on Lord Montoya's bodyguard for the killing of the priest of Rhiannan. He is found guilty of heresy and sentenced to death, but is championed by a knight of Thales, as the sword due to be used to execute him is tainted by evil. Lord Montoya, under the control of the Children of the Dragon, who implanted a magical device in his head while he was kidnapped, sends a mission to scout Laird Fergus' lands, led by one of his knights. The Children of the Dragon kidnap the knight (again) and cast her spirit out of her body, freeing the dragon spirit which also inhabits it. The spirit, dubbed the "Dragon Queen" by the Children of the Dragon, pledges to destroy all come-overs and drive them from the Bladelands. When the knight's comrades attempt to rescue her they are confronted by the Dragon Queen, who is extremely powerful, and are unable to defeat her, or rescue the knight's body, and several changelings from the group are kidnapped. That evening, a brave group quest through the void to recover the knight's spirit. They manage to locate it and send it back to her body, one of the sorcerers of the group giving his life to do so. Returned to her body she regains her senses and frees herself and the changeling captives, returning the following morning to Black Rose lands. There, hostilities with School Town, who are dissatisfied with the outcome of the trial of Lord Montoya's bodyguard, are escalating, and a group of mages known as the Ebon Cabal are also causing trouble.

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Chapter 4

8-10 August 2008 at Stock Wood

The Black Rose return to the Keltoi mooting ground to discuss the tribe's progress with the Wise Ones. The Ebon Cabal continue to make trouble, and one of the mages of the Black Rose attempts a powerful ritual which backfires, wiping his mind and ripping a portal to the Outside and destabilising the local area, causing those present in some areas to be transported to the Outside, and the Outsiders from the equivalent area to appear in the mooting ground. The group who find themselves in the Outside struggle to return home, being dismissed by a powerful knight of Thales, and hence returning to their rightful plane. One of the number, a pregnant sorcerer, becomes gravely injured when the knight attempts to dismiss her, because it appears her unborn child belongs in the Outside. The knight prays to Thales for a miracle to rescue the baby, and agrees to remain in the Outside in its place, so sacrificing himself for its safety. Meanwhile, a quest to the infamous spirit Magda manages to recover the spirit of the mage who sacrificed himself to save the spirit of the knight in the previous chapter, so that the mage can be resurrected. Peace is finally brokered between the Black Rose and School Town, after their champion, the local Hand of Rhiannan, is beaten in single combat by one of Lord Montoya's men.

Chapter 5

11-12 October 2008 at Chislehurst Caves

Following various leads regarding important information and artefacts, a group from the Black Rose venture to Mornead, a deep underground tunnel system inhabited by the treacherous Cave Keltoi. The group battle their way through the tunnels, defeating Keltoi and other strange underground creatures, making their way through a section of the Void, and then encountering many automata and other magical defences left there by the ancients. Eventually they find a strange machine which once contained 3 spirits. Two are already gone, and the adventurers disturb the third, allowing it to escape. One of the party uses his psychic ability to view the past to determine that one of the spirits resides in the body of one of Lord Montoya's knights, and is, in fact, the dragon spirit they had previously encountered – the Dragon of Life. In order to allow the party to return home, the members of the party who follow the Sidhe spirit Hunter promise to sacrifice one of the sorcerers from the Black Rose to him.

Chapter 6

22-25 May 2009 at Consall

The Ebon Cabal continue to cause problems, raising a creature of evil known as a Lich which attacks the Black Rose. After a great deal of fighting, the creature is finally defeated thanks to the prescient powers of one of the fief's changelings. The followers of Hunter attempt to make good on their promise to the Sidhe by hunting the mage they promised to sacrifice. Before the hunt can be completed, a surgeon from the fief who has strong ties to Hunter intercedes on behalf of the mage, and the hunt is called off. The Black Rose host a banquet and invite various local dignitaries in an effort to strengthen their ties with local tribes and fiefs, including the Hand of Rhiannan from School Town, in the interests of strengthening the recently formed peace. Unfortunately, the Hand of Rhiannan is assassinated during the banquet, by the same surgeon who managed to put an end to the hunt.

Chapter 7

22-25 May 2009 at Consall

Having ascertained who is responsible for the assassination of the Agent of Rhiannan, Lord Montoya has him executed. The Cup of Rhiannan and the Axe of Rhianos are stolen and deconsecrated in order to weaken the cycle of life and death, but the adventurers from the Black Rose manage to recover both items and the power that was taken from them, but unfortunately not until the axe has been given away, thus meaning they can only restore the Cup of Rhiannan to its former glory. An Olican sorcerer, hungry for power, drains the spirit of a noble Prince from Minoa and accidentally kills him, and a group quest to restore the magic of the mage whose spirit was retrieved from Magda at the second moot. Word reaches the Black Rose that a Cardinal from School Town, the local Voice of Rhiannan, is due to be assassinated as part of the same plot to weaken the powers of Rhiannan and Rhiannos. They attempt a counter-assassination, but, despite killing a number of the assassins and robbing them of a special knife they had intended to use in the assassination, they ultimately fail and he is killed anyway. During a raid on the Ebon Cabal, the child of the sorcerer who had been saved from the Outside by the knight of Thales, now a babe in arms, is lost.

Chapter 8

19-21 June 2009 at Consall

Another, very powerful Lich, dubbed the Lich-King, is summoned at a grove within the lands of the Black Rose by a sorcerer from the Eban Cabal who has duped some local Keltoi into helping him. The adventurers from the Black Rose discover that they need not only kill the Lich, but also destroy the phylactery it is using to protect its spirit, otherwise it will return at the cycling of the Nexus. After much battling with its undead minions, the adventurers manage to drive it off, and retrieve its phylactery, but are not able to kill it. A large number of the fief are killed in the battle, and the mood is sombre at the heavy price paid for so little success. It has also been discovered that the spirit of the kidnapped baby has been separated from its body and that the body is being force-grown to adulthood, to serve as a vessel for an evil spirit.

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Chapter 9

7-9 August 2009 at Stock Wood

Magus Limm, a powerful navigator, calls in a favour from Lord Montoya, asking him to defend a Keltoi village from attacks from fiefs with which the Black Rose is allied, and Lord Montoya and 12 volunteers from the Black Rose hold the village against considerable onslaught, while Magus Limm undertakes the necessary negotiations to halt the attacks. During the battle, Lord Montoya and his religious advisor, amongst others, are killed. The spirit of the Dragon of Death, the second of the three spirits from the machine found in Mornead, takes up residence in the body of one of the fief's priests.

Chapter 10

28-31 August 2009 at Stock Wood

Lord Montoya's heir arrives from the mainland, and assumes command of the Black Rose.  The fief attack and finally manage to destroy the Lich who is corrupting one of the points of power at a grove on their lands which had previously been sacred to the Sidhe, particularly to Hunter.  The third dragon spirit, the Dragon of Unlife, takes control of the body of the kidnapped baby, and is confronted by the Dragons of Life and Death.  Eventually, all three dragon spirits return to the land.  With the Lich and the Dragon of Unlife defeated, the priests of the Fief consecrate the grove to the Powers, causing conflict with the followers of Hunter in the Black Rose.

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